Varanasi, Dec 22 (KNN) Aiming to promote decentralization and local governance for better planning and implementation of skill development programmes, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is conducting a Special Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program for workers, with Department of Panchayati Raj (DoPR) in Chandauli and Varanasi.

No fee is charged fr0m a candidate for participating in the RPL program and every successfully certified candidate will receive INR 500. The learnings fr0m the RPL programme in Chandauli and Varanasi will be incorporated in the national launch of the proposed scheme aiming at getting gram panchayats skill ready for jobs of the future.

The programme, implemented under SANKALP Programme of MSDE, has been rolled out in Sevapuri and Baragaon blocks in Varanasi that include 167 Gram panchayats and in Niyamatabad and Sahabganjblocks in Chandauli that include 160 gram panchayats.

The implementing agency for the programme is National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). After initial preparations such as getting trainers onboard, setting up of RPL camps at appropriate locations and mobilization of candidates with the support of DoPR, Uttar Pradesh training started in the first week of Oct-2020.

Considerable progress has been made since then and nearly 2,250 candidates have been enrolled for training. At a virtual event, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurshiptodayfelicitated over 900 workers who have successfully completed their RPL training with skill certification and announced the launch of phase II of the programme.

Under the partnership, MSDE is supporting the State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs)/District Skill Committees (DSCs) in selection and onboarding of the PIAs and facilitating successful execution of the programme.

Both ministries (MSDE and MoPR) are being supported by Directorate of Panchayati Raj, UP and the State Skill Development Mission, UP and are monitoring the pilot to comprehensively understand the key challenges and learnings and implement necessary corrective measures.

Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, “About 70% of our country’s population resides in rural India and hence the inclusion of gram panchayats is crucial for the success of District Skill Development Plans and will provide a huge fillip to the Skill India Mission.”

Further he said, “Through RPL, we aim to align the competencies of the pre-existing workforce of the country to the standardized framework. Certification builds confidence, brings respect and provides recognition to the candidates, it has the potential to make skills aspirational”.

Supporting formalization of the informal learning of youth will supplement their efforts in finding sustainable livelihood opportunities and reduce inequalities based on privileging certain forms of knowledge over others, he added.

He said , the aim is to expand this initiative in all villages of India as a key step in the direction of honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Skilled India. The pilot in addition to recognizing the skills of the trainees shall also link them with work opportunities emanating fr0m the Gram panchayat’s development work.

Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, through its World Bank supported program of Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP), has been working with state and district-level skill development machineries to encourage innovative best practices at the local level that result in enhanced access, quality and capacity in the skilling ecosystem.

The initiative will contribute in development of rational and realistic state skill development plans, finally leading to a well-grounded national plan for skill development. Down-streaming the skill development planning to the gram panchayat (GP) level would contribute to decentralization in the true sense.

Thus, creating sustainable employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for workers and drive socio-economic development of the local economies. This will further enhance the scope of replicability and scalability of the RPL programme to other GPs across the country.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme recognizes the value of learning acquired outside a formal setting and provides a government certificate for an individual’s skills. Candidates receive exposure to concepts of digital and financial literacy and an accidental insurance coverage for three years at free of cost.

This initiative is part of a larger programme on ‘Skill Development Planning at the level of ‘Gram Panchayat’ that focuses on introducing Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in a structured manner in GPs of various districts across the country.